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The Stevens Point Fire Department
has received official notification from the regional bureau of the Insurance Service Office (ISO) of a change in
the city's public fire protection classification grade. On their ten point scale, with one being the best, the
rating has improved by two points from a 5 to a 3.
This program is designed to evaluate each community according to a uniform set of criteria as defined in nationally
recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the American Water Works
Association. Using this system objectively reviews the fire suppression capabilities of a community and assigns
a public protection classification number. This 10 point scale is then voluntarily employed by many fire insurance
underwriters as a major component when determining the premium paid by policy holders.
Simply stated, the system is broken into three separately evaluated categories which are totaled to reach the final
score. 10% of the final grade is derived from the dispatching system (911 center), 40% from the city's municipal
water system and 50% from the fire department.
Of the 839 fire departments in Wisconsin, there are none with the number 1 designation. There are 11 with the number
2 and 36 are at number 3. The rest comprise the remaining grades of 4 through 10.
Nationally, Stevens Point now resides within the top 3.4% of the nation's fire departments. "This is quite
phenomenal," stated Chief Barnes, "when you consider that ISO only grades our system's fire suppression
capability. It turns a blind eye to our many other life-saving efforts such as confined space, high angle, water
and ice rescue let alone our extremely active countywide paramedic program." He continued by saying that "all
of these services are provided with the same small cadre of highly trained and diverse personnel."
"This score was not realized overnight and not accomplished by only one department. Much recognition goes
to our Water Department under the direction of Mr. Greg Disher, and our city dispatch center managed by Police
Lt. Brian Kudronowicz. Obviously, the real winners are the citizens and their elected officials who continue to
support the provision of superior service for a superior community."